damned_institute | Day 66: Game Room (Fourth Shift)

The game room, huh... In normal, everyday life, it wouldn't have sounded too terrible, but as things were, it seemed like more of an annoyance. Games were fine, but priorities.... On the other hand, Kyousuke seemed to have hit a block in figuring out the clues to the the illness, and just thinking without getting anywhere wasn't very productive, either. At this point, it may have been best to push it aside and come back to it fresh. He had his reservations about it, especially since the end of the day was rapidly approaching, but... Frustration wasn't going to get him any closer.

He poked around what games were there with resignation, still half wondering what he was even doing and trying not feel guilty for needing a break. After a while he came across an electronic device marked "Game Boy Color" and picked it up out of curiosity. He'd heard of those before... If he was right, this thing was older than he was, by quite a bit. Flicking it on confirmed his suspicions; the sound and graphics from it spoke for themselves.

Shrugging, he took it a random seat, wincing at the pain in his ribs as he sat down. He guessed it wouldn't kill him to mess around with this thing for a little while.

[Lloyd!]

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Gods, he felt miserable. The nausea had passed, but he was burning up and everything ached. And the scratches from last night still ached. But he had to hold on to hope. They'd gotten through last night! And they could get through another.

And it would give them time to figure out how to reverse this. Without killing Locke in the process.

This was, of course, assuming nothing further happened to him.

He sunk into a chair in the game room, wanting to do nothing but curl up and sleep.

[free]

[hope you don't mind? :D;]

"You've been reading all day, Maria! You and Alex can't spend all day cooped up in the library! You should get out more!"

"I've already gotten out," said Soma, but it was clear her nurse had stopped listening. She found herself parked next to a young man about her age who looked like death warmed over.

"Why don't you make friends with Arthur?" said the nurse. "You can play a game with him!"

Arthur didn't look like he wanted to play a game. He looked like he wanted to be left alone and possibly given a blanket and a hot mug of tea. Soma had felt ill enough last night; the thought of how much worse someone still sick might feel today was worrying.

That was another thought--why were they still dragging the ill patients around during the day? Surely if they thought it was contagious, they should have put all of them in isolation. Soma of all people was precisely aware of just how much of a facade the entire business was, but it was still a little eyebrow-raising to see so many sick people forced to participate in daytime activities.

Of course, telling her nurse that would have been pointless, and besides the infuriating woman was already gone. Soma hesitated for a moment, then started setting up a game of chess on the table beside them, placing each piece on the board neatly and methodically.

"You don't actually have to play," she informed probably-not-Arthur quietly as she fished a rook out of the box. "I figure they'll leave us alone if it looks like we're doing something."

[Of course not!]

Tolten looked up blearily as one of those gods forsaken nursemaids ushered a young woman over to him. He was far too sick to care about his state of dress, state of illness or the state of her gender. All he could really manage at the moment was a mild glare at the woman who suggested he engage in any manner of activity that would require him to move.

"I doubt I could manage even if I wanted to," he admitted, wearily. He hurt all over. What was he going to do?

"My name is Tolten, as it were."

At least he could make an attempt at manners.

"Then don't," said Soma crisply but not unkindly. "It's stupid how they make you come out here in the first place. You should be in bed, at least."

Maybe that was a little hypocritical of her, considering she was stuck in a wheelchair at the moment, but at least the worst of the nausea and pain had faded, and her fever was gone entirely.

"I'm Soma. Soma Peries," she added, setting the last black pawn down on her side and starting on the white pieces. She paused and looked at him critically. "You should get someone to take a look at you, if you've heard about the cure."

"How could they take their pleasure from watching us suffer, if they allowed us to convalesce in bed?" Tolten sighed and looked down at the floor, remembering the arguments and heated words that had been exchanged the other night in the X-Ray room.

Oh gods, now how he wished he'd been stronger!

"I'm aware of the cure," he said, quietly. "Thank you, Lady Peries."

Soma frowned as she put the last rook in its place. "I know, but they're doing a terrible job of trying to pass this off as a mental institute. They could try harder, at the very least."

Mentioning the cure seemed to concern him somewhat--not that she could have blamed him in the slightest. Soma nodded slightly.

"It works, if that's what you're wondering," she said after a moment, gesturing to her abdomen with a slight twitch of her finger. "It's not pleasant, but it works."

"I think it's a joke now," Tolten said, frowning as he tried to put his thoughts into words. "The pretending. We all know, but it amuses him anyway to pretend."

But then...oh gods, was it true? It really did work? If that were the case...

Of course, dinner was next and there were so many questions he still had. He'd seen some talk on the board, but standing there had made him so dizzy the world had begun to pitch and tumble!

"But..." He swallowed hard and tried to find a more comfortable position for his aching body. "How...how can anyone survive something like that? Here?" With no healers, no sterile equipment, no anesthesia...

Tolten had a point. If they'd ever had a passable cover to begin with, it would have been blown to pieces after the military takeover anyway.

Talk of the cure seemed to have gotten his attention, though. Soma leaned forward slightly, lowering her voice as she nudged a pawn across the board. "It's not impossible. At least two of us got it done last night. There's an operating room in the medical wing, and there's equipment and anesthetic in a room attached to it."

She paused. It was easier to talk about it during the day, now that the pain was fading and the blood and sweat seemed more like a bad dream than anything else. "It's not easy. But the supplies are easy enough to obtain. There are people with healing abilities here, too. Finding someone you trust enough to perform the operation is the hard part."

Day 66: Game Room (Fourth Shift)

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